Palladium, Cologne, Germany11th December 2023
Sleep Token - “German Headline Rituals Tour”
Under the banner of SLEEP TOKEN lies the unique, far-reaching vision of one person - anonymous, silent, masked, armed with a breathtaking vocal range, a deft handling of keyboards and a live approach that is deeply stirring at every moment. This person calls himself Vessel and has created a conceptual as well as musical universe that cannot be compared to any other (rock) artist.
Musically, SLEEP TOKEN is classified in a variety of genres, including Alternative Metal, Post-Rock, Progressive Metal, Indie Rock as well as Ambient. For their current third and by far most successful album to date, ‘Take Me Back to Eden’, the trade press attests to the band’s now “completely fluid approach to genres”, not even shying away from elements such as Tech Metal, Djent, Pop and R&B. After SLEEP TOKEN’s current record climbed high on the charts not only throughout Europe but also in the U.S. and Australia, the band centered around Vessel, whose members go by the anonymizing pseudonyms II, III and IV, is coming to Germany for five concerts in Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig and Cologne between December 5 and 11, 2023.
The British underground organization, known only as SLEEP TOKEN and fronted by Vessel, began the sunset ritual on June 20, 2019, with the single ‘The Night Does Not Belong To God’. Every two weeks thereafter, another release followed - and with it an “offer” to dive into the metaphysical world of SLEEP TOKEN. The fact that these releases were each made available online on a Thursday just in time for sunset was no coincidence: this all followed the overarching concept of their debut album ‘Sundowning’, on which each song was given its own emblem as well as an accompanying visualization. And which in turn was only the first part of an album trilogy telling the mystical background story of the band: According to it, a new god named Sleep had appeared to frontman Vessel in his dreams - a deity to whom paying homage is the entire raison d'être for SLEEP TOKEN’s music.
This trilogy was preceded by two EPs - ‘One’ and ‘Two’ - and a couple of singles, which helped the band, formed in 2016, to establish their completely original genre mix. As evidenced, for instance, by their breathtakingly powerful cover of the OUTKAST hit ‘Hey Ya!’ - an undoubtedly curious choice for a band anchored in hard guitar music. Whereby - what does band mean? Because ultimately the entire kaleidoscopic sound and aesthetic universe is built on the ideas and compositions of Vessel, who is always flanked in the studio only by a drummer with the pseudonym II; the two other musicians, III on bass and IV on guitar, on the other hand, count only to the permanent live cast of the formation. With the debut album ‘Sundowning’, released in 2019, Vessel began not only to embellish the story of the deity Sleep more and more, but also to conquer the international rock world peu à peu.
With the second part of the trilogy, ‘This Place Will Become Your Tomb’, SLEEP TOKEN entered the charts for the first time in England, Germany and New Zealand. While the current album ‘Take Me Back to Eden’, released in mid-May, can now be considered a true global chart topper: it entered the Top 10 in over ten national charts, including the UK, Australia, Germany and Scotland. It is only logical that they were also awarded “Best UK Artist” at the Heavy Music Awards last May and that their biggest live show to date, which is planned for next December as the conclusion of their European tour, sold out London’s Wembley Arena within ten minutes. Yet all this seems to be just the beginning for this equally cryptic and highly exciting band. One can be curious.
Additional Concert Info
Doors: 18:30
Start: 20:00
Tickets: are available from 45.75 euros (plaus charges pre-sale) via Eventim
More Info: https://prime-entertainment.de/aktuelles/sleep-token-2/
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